


Comfort and Joy

by LeChatRouge673



Series: Thea's Song [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Satinalia, holiday fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 01:00:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeChatRouge673/pseuds/LeChatRouge673





	Comfort and Joy

“It’s crooked.”

Loghain bit back a sigh and shifted slightly on the ladder so he could face his wife, still holding onto the star he had just put on the top of their Satinalia tree. Nathaniel was threading lights through the evergreen, carefully stepping around the ladder. The lights and the star were the only two decorations that went on the tree before the rest of their friends and family arrived tomorrow night on Satinalia Eve, but there were still long swaths of fragrant pine garland to hang and more lights to go up along the walls, and Theadosia was having a difficult time letting go of the process that she had long been used to supervising personally.

“Sweetheart, I don’t think it’s crooked.” He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth. Theadosia rarely got worked up about anything. Despite having a fearful temper, she rarely lost it anymore, but Satinalia was a special exception. It was not even so much her temper that they worried about, just the sheer amount of stress that she seemed to accumulate in the weeks leading up to the annual party she threw every year on Satinalia Eve. Despite long and logical reassurances that everything would be fine and she did not need to worry quite so much, Theadosia was still a veritable bundle of manic energy, and Loghain knew she had not been getting enough sleep the past few nights. This morning he had found her half asleep standing up in the shower.

“That is because you are looking at it up close,” she countered calmly, but he could see a spark in her storm blue eyes. “From down here, it is crooked.”

“Thea, that may just be because you are looking at it from an angle,” Nathaniel sighed. Loghain appreciated the other man’s show of solidarity, but he also knew that Nate was very possibly throwing himself under the bus.

“Yes, darling,” Theadosia replied, an edge creeping into her tone, “And from what angle will everyone _else_ be looking at it, exactly?”

“Not all of us are built in miniature,” her best friend retorted, and Loghain had to turn away before she saw the smile tugging at his mouth. Instead, he made a minute adjustment to the star.

“Better?”

Theadosia looked up and studied the tree carefully. “Better.” She nodded in satisfaction, but then a shadow of guilt crossed over her features and clouded her storm blue eyes. “I’m sorry, love,” she sighed, and her exhaustion was evident. “I know I shouldn’t care so much, but…” Her words trailed off with a shrug, and as he stepped down from the ladder he wrapped her in his arms, and held her close.

“Why don’t you go see if Cat needs help with breakfast?” He suggested, slowly rubbing her back. “If you don’t trust us to do a proper job out here, perhaps you can provide a supervisor in your stead. You could ask the Bear.”

Theadosia laughed weakly against his chest, then arched onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “You think _I’m_ a taskmaster, you don’t even want to know how bossy Teddy gets.” She slipped out of his arms and padded towards the kitchen. She looked back briefly with a soft smile. “I trust you.”

Once she had left the room, both Loghain and Nathaniel gave a subtle sigh of relief. Not for her absence: that she had not felt the need to retrieve Teddy. Nathaniel had given her the stuffed bear when she was nine, and the poor thing was a bit worn for all the years and adventures. He now resided in an honored spot at Theadosia’s bedside, but he was rarely brought out when she was hurting badly, and both men were glad this was not the case today.

“Believe it or not, the last two years have been better,” Nathaniel observed as he finished wrapping the lights around the tree. “I think she has mellowed since she met you.”

“Don’t let _her_ hear you say that,” Loghain remarked drily, but Nate just laughed.

“Oh I’ve told her that plenty and, yes, she usually smacks me on the arm as a matter of principle, but she knows I’m right. Personally,” he offered a small smile, “I’m just glad she has someone else to boss around now.”

Loghain accepted one end of a long pine garland. “So good to know my presence is useful.”

Nathaniel picked up the other end of the garland and shifted the ladder so that he could hang his side. “Yes, we’ve grown rather accustomed to you being around, I’m afraid.”

Which was, Loghain reflected, a bit of a Satinalia miracle in and of itself. For years after his fall from grace, he had voluntarily exiled himself in Gwaren, interacting only with those people with whom he absolutely had to. The holiday had been spent alone, as Anora had almost always had to spend it in the capital, making the sort of public appearances expected of a queen. Now, even though they still spent half their time in Gwaren, he and Theadosia had built a life together. He had family, and actual _friends_ , and he still could not really process it at times.

“What time are you two leaving for the mountains on Satinalia?” Nathaniel’s question shook Loghain from his thoughts, and it took a moment for him to respond.

“The day _after_ Satinalia,” Loghain corrected, accepting the ladder as Nathaniel pushed it towards him and stepping up to hang the other side of the pine boughs. “While neither I nor Theadosia are particularly thrilled about having to attend a formal state dinner for the holiday, Anora would kill us both if we tried to skip out on it.”

“Fair enough,” Nathaniel nodded. “Besides, I have to think it would be almost worth it to see Thea actually wearing a ball gown.”

“Considering most days she won’t even put on pants if she doesn’t have to leave the house,” Loghain agreed with a quiet laugh. Not that he had ever, or _would_ ever, complain about his wife’s tendency to walk around in boyshorts and a cami or, this time of year, one of his sweatshirts. Nor would he ever say a word about her crawling on his lap with a blanket and complaining about being cold; in fact, he treasured every single one of those moments, as he did the rest of his time with her. “She wears it well. I’ll try to snap a photo this year. She might be amenable if I catch her before she has to put on whatever ridiculous pair of shoes she’ll have to suffer in the rest of the night.”

“Loghain, that woman and my wife could wear a burlap sack and they would still be the most beautiful creatures on the planet,” Nathaniel pointed out, smiling slightly, passing Loghain a box of colorful glass baubles that needed to be hung from the garland before starting with his own box at the other end.

“You’re not wrong,” Loghain agreed. “I suspect we are luckier than we have any right to be, aren’t we?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

“Alright, gentlemen,” Cataline’s soft voice drifted from the doorway leading to the kitchen and dining room, and when they turned she was wearing her usual sweet natured smile. “My darling cousin has decided you have earned enough of a reprieve to come eat breakfast with us, so hurry up before the bacon gets cold. Besides, someone should probably remind Thea to pace herself before she goes through another pot of coffee.”

 

 


End file.
